The Date of Easter復(fù)活節(jié)的日期

In 325 AD， the Council of Nicaea[尼西亞大公會(huì)議] was convened by Emperor Constantine. It issued the Easter Rule which states that Easter shall be celebrated on the first Sunday that occurs after the first full moon or after the vernal equinox[春分]. The ecclesiastical[基督教的] “vernal equinox” is always on March 21. It does not always occur on the same date as the astronomical[天文學(xué)的] full moon. Therefore， Easter must be celebrated on a Sunday between the dates of March 22 and April 25.

公元前325年，康斯坦丁大帝組建了尼西亞大公會(huì)議，制定了復(fù)活節(jié)的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)：復(fù)活節(jié)應(yīng)該在第一個(gè)滿月后或是春分后的第一個(gè)星期天進(jìn)行慶祝?；浇痰摹按悍帧蓖ǔＪ?月21日。由于天文上的滿月，復(fù)活節(jié)的日期不會(huì)是每年的同一天。因而復(fù)活節(jié)通常是在3月22日到4月24日之間的其中一個(gè)星期天進(jìn)行慶祝。

The Easter Bunny 復(fù)活節(jié)兔子

The symbol originated with the pagan[異教徒的] festival of Easter. The goddess， Eostre， was worshipped by[被…尊崇的] the Anglo-Saxons through her earthly symbol， the rabbit. The Germans brought the symbol of the Easter rabbit to America. It was widely ignored by other Christians until shortly after the Civil War. In fact， Easter itself was not widely celebrated in America until after that time.

復(fù)活節(jié)兔子起源于異教的復(fù)活節(jié)。當(dāng)時(shí)，盎格魯撒克遜人的春之女神的世俗象征是一個(gè)兔子，因此被人們所供奉。而德國(guó)人將復(fù)活兔帶到了美國(guó)。直至美國(guó)南北戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)結(jié)束后的短期內(nèi)，復(fù)活兔才被其他基督教徒所關(guān)注。事實(shí)上，直到這次內(nèi)戰(zhàn)結(jié)束后的一段時(shí)間內(nèi)，復(fù)活節(jié)才在美國(guó)被人們廣泛地慶祝。

The Easter Egg 復(fù)活節(jié)彩蛋

As with the Easter Bunny and the holiday itself， the Easter Egg predates[先于] the Christian holiday of Easter. The exchange of eggs in the springtime is a custom that was centuries old when Easter was first celebrated by Christians. From the earliest times， the egg was a symbol of rebirth in most cultures. Eggs were often wrapped[包裹] in gold leaf or， if you were a peasant， colored brightly by boiling them with the leaves or petals[花瓣] of certain flowers. Today， children hunt colored eggs and place them in Easter baskets along with the modern version of real Easter eggs —— those made of plastic or chocolate candy.

與復(fù)活兔和復(fù)活節(jié)本身一樣，復(fù)活蛋預(yù)示著基督教節(jié)日復(fù)活節(jié)即將到來。當(dāng)基督教徒慶祝第一個(gè)復(fù)活節(jié)后，在春天互相交換復(fù)活蛋已經(jīng)是延續(xù)了好幾百年的習(xí)俗。在早期，復(fù)活蛋在許多文明中象征著“再生”。人們常常用金色的葉子包裹復(fù)活蛋，或者，假如你是農(nóng)民的話，可以將復(fù)活蛋畫得色彩斑斕，并把它和葉子或是幾種花的花瓣一起煮沸。在今天，孩子們到處搜刮復(fù)活蛋，并將這些蛋和現(xiàn)代版本的復(fù)活蛋一起放到復(fù)活節(jié)籃子中。這些現(xiàn)代版本的復(fù)活蛋是由塑料或巧克力糖果做成的。